


I Can't Live In A World Without You

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Car Accident, betty is hurt, hospital waiting room, jughead is worried, out of body experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 07:11:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20811125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: You don't see it coming the day your life changes forever.....just like Betty didn't see the truck before it hit the car.





	I Can't Live In A World Without You

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not very good at keeping a story contained in a one shot but I'm trying to do that here and I hope you guys like it.

The day started like any other in the Cooper/Jones house with breakfast which FP demanded that they have together citing 'family bonding time'. Betty and Jughead both thought that he was trying to make up for the years he lost when he was deep in the bottle so they tried not to complain when he woke them up at seven in the morning on a saturday. Jellybean was a little less friendly that early in the morning usually only communicating in grunts until she'd downed a cup of coffee or two. FP had tried to curb her caffeine addiction, even going so far as to tell her how unhealthy it was for someone her age to drink coffee in the first place, but the effort had been to no avail so now he just grumbled about it under his breath at the table.

A recent addition to their morning routine was her mother who they all knew would sneak out early and come back in the front door like she hadn't been there all night but none of them were going to call her and FP out on it, especially because none of them wanted to even acknowledge that it was happening, so they left it alone for now. After breakfast Jughead left to meet up with the Serpents to catch up on everything he'd missed during the week while he was away at school and see if anything needed his immediate attention. She knew that he'd be back later to spend the rest of the day with her so she let him go easily.

Generally after breakfast they were all allowed to go their separate ways because FP had to report in to the sheriff's office which meant that he wasn't hovering around trying to impose even more family time on them. That morning after Jughead, Alice and FP had all departed Betty and Jellybean both retreated to their rooms to work on homework. She and Jellybean had gotten closer over the course of the year, it had been a necessity with them living right down the hall from one another, but Betty genuinely liked the young girl and sometimes they'd spend their afternoons together baking or working on the old bike that FP had in the garage but today they were both busy. Betty left her bedroom door open just in case Jellybean needed anything though as she got to work on her assignment.

She got so caught up in her work that when a knock came at the front door she almost flung her pencil across the room in shock as she jumped. She left her room to open the door, seeing Jellybean poke her head out of her room as she passed by before ducking back in when she saw Betty was going to answer the knock. She made it down the stairs in record time and flung the door open before whoever it was on the other side had the opportunity to knock again. It was Veronica, who stepped past her and into the house as soon as she opened the door, making Betty raise an eyebrow at her.

"What are you doing here V?" Betty asked and Veronica shrugged as she rolled her eyes.

"Archie's busy at the community center and the Pembrooke is empty and boring." She sighed. "I need human interaction before I lose my mind, so here I am."

"I'm not going to be much fun. I'm just trying to finish up my homework." Betty said, leading Veronica upstairs anyway despite her words. Veronica fell backwards onto her bed.

"Betty." She whined. "I need entertainment. You can finish your homework later, give me attention."

Betty stared at her friend with a slight smirk on her face. "You're so dramatic."

"Seriously B, you have no idea what it's like to be in that apartment by myself. It kind of creepy, to be honest." She said, sitting up to look at Betty. "That's why I'm always inviting Archie to stay over."

"It can't be that bad." Betty said. "I would've thought you'd like living alone. No one to answer to."

"Maybe if I lived in an apartment that I chose myself but in that apartment it always feels like my parents are lurking around the corner ready to throw some other stupid power play at me even though I know that they're both locked up." Veronica said. "I seriously wish I could move somewhere else but No one will lease to me without a co-signer because I'm not eighteen yet."

"You've already looked into it?" Betty asked her in surprise, finally sitting aside the assignment that she'd been trying to finish to give her friend her full attention.

"Yeah. I'm being serious when I say that it's creepy being there alone." Veronica said with a shrug. "I just have to wait a few more weeks then I'll officially be an adult and they can't refuse to rent to me anymore."

"Are you sure that you want to move out of that apartment before school ends?" Betty asked. "I mean, they'll probably make you sign a lease for at least a year and you already said that you don't want to stay in Riverdale for college."

"I forgot about stupid leases." Veronica groaned as she threw herself back down on the bed and Betty rolled her eyes at her friends dramatics.

"School ends in a couple of months. I'm sure you can hold out until then." Betty said, shrugging.

"Four months Betty, not a couple." She said. Betty was about to reply when movement at the edge of her vision made her glance at the door where she saw Jellybean standing awkwardly, obviously not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Betty gave her a smile and waved her into the room to let her kn ow that it was okay.

"Do you need something JB?" She asked as Jellybean ran her foot across the carpet.

"I was wondering if you could give me a ride." She said. "My friend Tiffany called and she'd having a little get together at her house and she asked if I could come."

"A get together?" Betty asked, her eyebrow raising as she and Veronica shared a look. "And will there be boys at this get together."

"Maybe." Jellybean said with a shrug. "But her parents are going to be there the whole time. It's really not a big deal."

"Oh will they?" Veronica asked, the disbelief clear in her voice making Jellybean roll her eyes.

"You can come in and meet them if you want to." She said, her voice exasperated. Betty studied her for a minute before she sighed.

"Fine." She said. "But I will be meeting her parents before I leave so you better hope that wasn't a lie or you'll be getting right back into the car and coming home."

"Fine." Jellybean exclaimed as she spun toward the door. "And just so you know, you totally sound like a mom."

With that she stomped out of the room and Betty could here her rustling around in her own room and had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. She was almost certain that she'd never acted like that when she was twelve. She sighed as she stood from the seat and grabbed her bag from the back of the chair before she heard Veronica snort and turned to glance at her. Veronica was staring at her with a grin on her face.

"She's right you know, you totally went into mom mode, even had the tone of voice down." She said, laughing slightly.

"Shut up." She said as she turned to leave the room. "Are you coming or not?"

"I have nothing else to do." She said and followed Betty out of the room.

They met Jellybean by the front door and Betty noticed the newly applied gloss on her lips but didn't comment on it because she didn't want to start an argument. She knew that they were both right she tended to go into mom mode with the younger girl sometimes without meaning to and she desperately didn't want to turn into her mother, who would've made her take of the gloss before leaving the house when she was younger, so she let it go.

They all piled into the car quickly with Jellybean sliding into the back seat and rolling her eyes when Betty turned around to make her buckle up but doing it anyway. As Betty backed out of the driveway she asked Jellybean for directions to her friends house, which were easy to follow seeing as she didn't live that far away, making Betty wonder why Jellybean didn't just walk but she wasn't going to point it out. 

"So anyway, what are you thinking? You gonna take a chance at getting stuck with a lease for a place you won't be living in or are you just going to stay in the Pembrooke?" Betty asked, glancing at Veronica who rolled her eyes.

"I guess I'll just have to stay where I am." She grumbled. "Do you think I could convince Mrs. Andrews to let Archie move in with me?" 

"I'm gonna guess no." Betty said with a slight laugh. Veronica looked at her.

"You could move in with me you know." She said. "It's not like your mother can really tell you where to live seeing as she left you nearly homeless before."

"I'm happy where I am V." Betty said.

"Yeah. Stop trying to steal my sister-in-law." Jellybean said from the backseat making Betty go red in the face.

"I'm not really your sister-in-law JB. That's not how this works." She said and Jellybean shrugged.

"Not yet, at least legally, but you are _practically_ my sister in law. I don't think you and Jug could get more married, I mean at this point the paperwork is just a legality." She stated.

"She's got a point." Veronica stated from her spot as Betty stopped at the red light. She rolled her eyes at both of them even though her face was still flaming.

"The two of you need to calm down with the marriage talk." She said. "Jug and I aren't quiet there yet."

"Why not?" JB asked. "Is it just because people say that you're too young?" 

"No." Betty admitted, glancing at both of them. "We want to finish college before we make that commitment is all."

"You two have talked about it?" Veronica asked, her voice full of surprise and Betty shrugged.

"Of course. We talked about it in passing before we sat down and had a real conversation about it." She said. "Haven't you and Archie talked about the future?"

"Yeah of course but not about marriage." Veronica said. "We've never even gotten close to that subject."

"Oh." Betty said. Maybe it was weird that she and Jughead were so sure about each other at their age but she found some comfort in the thought that they'd always be a part of each other's lives.

When the light went green and she started rolling forward again, she didn't see the truck barreling toward them until it was to late to stop what happened next. She heard Veronica shout her name seconds before the sound of metal crushing reached her ears. She lost her grip on the steering wheel and the car spun out of control before slamming into the edge of the concrete barrier between the lanes. Something about the cars momentum and the way it hit the barrier sent it flipping across the street and that's all Betty saw before everything went black. 

* * *

The call came into the Sheriff's station minutes later. A car accident, multiple victims, that's all that was said over the system so he wasn't expecting to recognize the car when he pulled up with lights flashing and he wasn't expecting the way his heart began racing as he leapt out of the cruiser. One of the deputies saw him approaching and held up his hands to keep him back from the scene.

"You know the rules Sheriff. You can't work a scene that involves family." He said and FP had half a mind to deck him but he knew that wouldn't help the situation. He was staring at the car on it's roof with smoke rolling out of it so intently that he didn't see his own daughter until she had launched herself into his arms. He hugged her back, surprised to see her here in the first place, before his eyes finally left the car and he registered other details. There was a paramedic lingering at the edge of his vision having obviously followed Jellybean over to him from the ambulance parked on the edge of the road. Jellybean was wrapped in a blanket and had a scrape on her forehead and she was crying.

"JB, what happened?" He asked softly as he ran a hand through her hair. 

"I don't know. The truck came out of nowhere." She said, her voice high pitched and panicked. The paramedic stepped up next to her.

"She's in shock." He said. "She needs to rest."

"I'll make sure that she gets it." FP said before glancing around. No one was paying attention to him anymore so he looked at the paramedic once more. "Where is the other girl who was in the accident? Do you know?"

"Both girls were taken to Riverdale General." He told him.

"Both?" He asked, glancing at Jellybean. 

"Betty and Veronica." She said. "They were taking me to Tiffany's."

"Do you know how they're doing?" He asked and the paramedic gave him a sympathetic look.

"No sir. I'm sorry but I don't know anything." He said. "You'll have to go to the hospital for more information."

"Okay." FP said, nodding even as he walked away with Jellybean tucked under his arm. She was shaking lightly even with the blanket wrapped around her and he knew that it probably wasn't due to cold. He turned to her. "I'm gonna take you home and have Mary stay with you before I go to the hospital."

"No! I want to go with you. I need to know if they're okay." She said, her words coming so fast they almost blurred together. "They took them away before I could see."

"JB, you need to rest." He said gently and she glared at him.

"I'm fine." She snapped, even as her teeth chattered. She gave him a stubborn look that could rival Jughead and he knew he wasn't going to win this fight. "I'm going with you."

"Fine." He said with a sigh, giving in. "Get in the car."

* * *

A nurse sits in the emergency room of the Riverdale General hospital waiting for the patients from the car accident to be brought in. They'd been given limited information when the call had come in from the ambulance en route to the hospital. Three victims were coming to them from the accident, one man in his late forties and two young girls in their late teens. They were told that the accident was a nasty one so the doctors were rushing around preparing for the worst. She could hear the sirens in the distance growing ever closer with each tick of the clock.

When the first ambulance arrived, people rushed forward pulling the gurney down the hall and into a room, speaking rapidly to one another. She took a place at the rail of the second gurney to come through listening to the patient overview form the paramedics while checking vitals and attaching machines to the girl on the gurney without even really looking at the patient so when she eventually did glance up, her movements stopped immediately as she stared in surprise. People rushed around her doing other tasks throughout the room but she couldn't bring herself to look away from the blonde teenager or the blood leaking through her shirt.

"Nurse Matthews, I need those labs to be done now." The doctor snapped, bringing her focus back to the room at large.

"Sorry doctor. I'll get it down to the labs immediately." She said, drawing blood from the inside of her arm. She paused again when her eyes drifted back up to the girls face.

"Are you finished? I really need those labs." The doctor insisted. "I'm going to have to take her down to the OR and I need to know what I'm working with."

"I'm sorry." She said again, glancing at the doctor. "It's just....that's Betty Cooper. Jesus, she used to babysit my kids."

"Do you need to be excused from this case?" He asked. "If you can't do this then send someone else in."

"No, I can do this." She insisted. "I'm fine."

She left the room with the blood samples clutched in her hand as she rushed down the stairs to the labs to put a rush on the results. Betty Cooper was being wheeled into the operating room when she returned and she shook herself before she entered the room and resolved not to look at the girl's face again lest she get distracted. she could tell from the furrow in the doctors brow before he stepped up to the side of the operating table that it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Jughead was sitting in the camper that Sweet Pea lived in while he and Fangs filled him in on what had been going on with the Serpents while he was at school and thankfully everything seemed to be running smoothly. There were no major problems for him to deal with and everyone seemed to be on track. He was glad for this because it meant that he could spend the rest of the weekend with Betty without having to worry about any thing else.

"Seriously Jones, everything here is fine." Sweet Pea said. "You're out there getting your fancy education, that's all you need to worry about, we're fine here."

"And if we ever have any problems, we can just go to Betty." Fangs added.

"Betty?" Jughead asked, glancing between them.

"You made her queen." Sweet Pea shrugged. "She takes the role seriously. She come's by at least once a week to check up on us and make sure that we're okay. She's even helped a few of the Serpents sign up at the food pantries so they aren't going hungry during the week. I admit, I didn't like her at first, but she's grown on me."

"She's doing that for you guys?" Jughead asked. "She's never said anything to me about it."

"I don't think she sees it as a big deal." Fangs said. "That's just how she is. She's a good person and she takes care of us." 

"Apparently she's a better leader than I am." Jughead said.

"Not better, just different." Fangs said. Jughead was about to reply when his phone rang and he had to dig it out of his pocket to see that it was his father calling. He felt a bit bad about it but he found himself hoping that he wasn't needed for some case.

"Dad, I'm kind of in the middle of something. What do you need?" He asked.

_"Jug, I need you to come down to the hospital." _His father's voice came over the phone and his heart started beating a little faster.

"Hospital?" He asked and saw Sweet Pea and Fangs both straighten up as they looked at him. "Dad, what--"

_"It's Betty." _Jughead didn't hear anything after that. It was like his entire body was on autopilot as he leapt from the bed and flung the door open before quickly swinging himself onto his bike. 

The drive to the hospital was a blur of panic and as he skidded to a stop in front of the hospital he found himself almost hysterically thinking that this isn't how things are supposed to go. The sun was shining through the clouds and everything was bright. He thought news like this should've come on a dark rainy night to match his mood and the thought almost made him laugh. He was maybe a little hysterical in his panic. 

He hit the door running as he rushed to the desk. The receptionist looked at him with surprise in her eyes as he skidded to a stop in front of her and he knew that he must look crazy right now but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Betty Cooper." He spat between gasping breaths before he remembered. "Elizabeth I mean, Elizabeth Cooper. Where is she?"

"Are you family?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Jughead wanted more than anything in that moment to curse her to the deepest pits of hell, of course they were fucking family.

"Yes." He said without hesitation. "I need to see her. Where is she?"

The woman stared at him for a moment longer as if she was trying to determine if he was lying before finally she turned to the computer screen and began typing.

"You can't see her right now sir." She said and he slammed his hand on the desk.

"Why the hell not?" He snapped.

"She's in surgery." She said. "You should take a seat in the waiting room. A nurse will be out to explain things to you soon, I'm sure."

Jughead stood there for a moment contemplating whether it would be worth it or not to call her a bitch but after a few seconds he blew out a breath and walked away before he did something extremely stupid and got himself kicked out of the hospital. He almost fell into a chair and sucked in a few deep breaths and buried his face in his hands. Surgery, she was in fucking surgery. It hit Jughead in that moment that he had no idea why she was in the hospital or what had happened. He'd been so caught up in getting here that he hadn't listened to his father at all.

He knew that his father had to be in the hospital somewhere and could easily tell him what had happened but Jughead didn't have it in him in that moment to move from the spot he'd found himself in. He knew that if she was in surgery then whatever had happened must have been bad. He'd left her that morning at the breakfast table with a kiss and a promise to be back later, she'd smiled at him, a real smile that reached her eyes. How the hell did they get here? Would he ever see her smile at him like that again? The questions swirled in his brain and made him want to hit something until he saw Archie skid into the waiting room and he was shaken out of his thoughts. Of course his father would call him too.

"Archie." He said softly. "You're here for Betty."

"Betty?" Archie asked, confusion in his voice. "Your dad called me about Veronica."

"Veronica?" Jughead asked, shaking his head. "Jesus, what the hell happened?"

"I don't know. FP wouldn't say much on the phone, just that Veronica was here. She's in surgery apparently." Archie said and Jughead sighed as he fished his phone out of his pocket again and texted his father. It was only a few seconds later when he received a text back saying that he was coming up from the cafeteria.

Jughead pulled Archie over to the corner he'd been sitting in before and pulled him down next to him to wait for his father to come meet them. His legs where shaking restlessly and he couldn't get his mind to shut up, running through all of the possible situations that could have ended up with them here in the hospital until his father appeared on the edge of his vision. Jughead was surprised to see Jellybean next to him with a bandage on her forehead and he and Archie were on their feet immediately. FP held up his hands in a placating manner.

"Dad, what happened? Why are they here?" He asked and his father sighed.

"It was a car accident. It was.....bad." He said shaking his head and Jughead's breath left him in a rush. "I got called to the scene but they wouldn't let me work it because it involved family. I haven't seen them. I don't know how bad they are or anything. I wish I could tell you more." 

"It was my fault." Jellybean whimpered, tears sliding down her face. "I asked Betty to take me to my friends house. It wasn't that far, I could've walked but I didn't want to. It's my fault."

"JB, this isn't your fault." His father said sternly. "That idiot that hit you ran a fucking stoplight."

"Was he on something?" Archie asked.

"They're running a tox screen. We'll know something soon." His father said. 

They then began with small talk and Jughead tuned it out. It was worse than he'd thought, a car accident which his own father said was bad, he couldn't relax after that. What if he never saw her again? What if this morning was the last time he'd ever get to hold her in his arms? He should have held her longer, in fact he never should have left the damn house, then maybe she wouldn't be here.

He was in a downward spiral of thoughts when a commotion brought his attention outward once again and he found the Serpents packing into the waiting room along with Mrs. Cooper who his father immediately wrapped his arm around. The Serpents took the seats around them, some leaning on the wall or sitting on the floor, making Jughead glance at Fangs who sat down on his other side, parallel to Archie. He shrugged at him.

"I told you, Betty's been there for us so now we'll be there for her." He said. "No serpent stands alone, right?"

"Right." Jughead said and for some reason he wanted to cry. He took a few deep breaths to keep the tears from falling but he knew that they could see them in his eyes but kindly no one commented on it. 

* * *

When Betty opened her eyes she was surprised to see herself on an operating table with doctors all around her. There was so much blood that she was surprised that she had any left in her body. She seemed to be floating above the table so she could see everything from a good vantage point. Her heart was open and exposed to the air and all she could think was that it probably wasn't healthy to be doing that before she realized that all of this was super strange.

_Is this a dream? It must be._

She couldn't think why she'd be dreaming of herself on an operating table with an open chest but maybe the whole farm business had affected her more than she thought. Maybe she was dreaming about having her organs harvested but she wasn't scared like she had thought she would be. The doctors crowded around her also seemed to be trying to help her and not steal her organs so that couldn't be right either.

_Maybe I'm dead._

The thought came unbidden to her but as she glanced around the room her eyes caught on a machine beeping out her heart rhythm so obviously she was still kicking. She sighed and tried to remember what she'd been doing before she seemingly woke here in the OR. She remembered breakfast and kissing Jughead goodbye before he'd slipped out the door. She remembered homework and Veronica and Jellybean. It came back to her suddenly, hitting her like a train, the accident. Where were Veronica and Jellybean? Were they okay? What was happening to her?

The machine attached to her heart began beeping rapidly and the doctors rushed around her.

"She's crashing!"

"Get me the internal paddles."

"Clear!"

It was like a jolt went through her, tugging her roughly back to her body on the table and she had one thought before everything went black again.

_Maybe I'm dying._

* * *

The clock ticking away the minutes and hours made Jughead want to rip it off the wall and toss it across the parking lot. Maybe then the incessant ticking would stop echoing in his head. She could be dying right now and he'd never get to hold her again or tell her that he loved her. He didn't want to even contemplate living in a world where Betty Cooper didn't exist anymore. She was his life, his light, his everything and he wasn't sure if he'd survive losing her.

A doctor made his way into the waiting room, pausing for a moment when he saw the crowd of them hanging around, before he continued and glanced around.

"Are you all here for Veronica Lodge?" He asked and Jughead's teeth clenched. He liked Veronica, really he did, but he needed to know something about Betty before he lost his mind. Archie stood from the chair next to him and cleared his throat.

"I'm here for Veronica. She's my fiancee." He said. No one called him on his lie. They understood why he'd said it, it made him family without having to explain anything else.

"Right." The doctor said before clearing his throat. "She's out of surgery now. We've put her in a recovery room where you can see her. She had a broken arm that we had to repair with metal rods and screws. She also has a massive concussion and slight bleeding on the brain. For now we're just monitoring it to see if it'll stop on it's own but if it gets worse then we may have to operate to relieve the pressure. She has other superficial bruises and scrapes but for the most part she was lucky."

"Okay. Thank you." Archie said, blowing out a breath before he turned to Jughead. "Let me know when you know anything."

"Of course Arch." He said. 

"Sheriff Jones?" The doctor said, gaining their attention once more. "We've also gotten the results from the man's tox screen."

"And?" He demanded. 

"He had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream." He said. "I doubt he could even walk in a straight line. He should never have gotten behind the wheel of a car."

"He was drunk?!" Alice exclaimed. "My daughter could die because some dumbass thought it was a good idea to get wasted in the middle of the day and drive his car into the side of hers?!"

"Alice." FP said quietly. "Maybe we should take a step outside for a minute."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead her out even as she let out a string of curses that Jughead was almost certain that he'd never heard her say before in his life. Archie left them in the waiting room to follow the doctor up to the recovery rooms and Jughead sat back down to begin the waiting all over again. He wanted to do something, anything, to make time go faster so he could know if she was okay. 

The nervous energy running through him made it impossible to relax and his legs started shaking again rapidly as he sat there. It had been hours since he had arrived and he still knew nothing about Betty, it made him want to scream and demand answers from the doctors but he knew that wouldn't help the situation. The other Serpents crowded around him kept throwing looks his way making him want to shout at them but they were here for Betty so he wasn't going to drive them away. He knew the looks were because he looked absolutely crazy right now.

He could admit that he probably looked like a man on the verge so the looks were warranted. He knew that they were just keeping an eye on him, especially Sweet Pea and Fangs, and he knew that they'd keep him from doing anything stupid if the base side of him won out at any time. He thought that there must be a circle of hell devoted to waiting rooms and the stupid ticking clock. Waiting for news was going to drive him crazy before the day was out, he was sure. He blew out a breath and looked around the room for anything to distract himself and his eyes landed on Jellybean, still wrapped in a blanket, curled into a chair in the corner of the room.

Jughead stood from his chair and made his way over to her, taking the chair next to her as he pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She looked at him and her eyes were rimmed in red making it obvious that she'd been crying. She looked so much younger than her actual age in that moment and it made his older brother instincts kick in as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his side, tucking her head under his chin as he did.

"You okay JB?" He asked softly. He heard her sniffle.

"What if..." She trailed off as her breath hitched. "What if she doesn't make it?"

"We can't think like that." He insisted even though he'd had the same thought more than once during the time he'd been in the waiting room. "Betty's a fighter. She'll make it." 

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself." She said quietly.

"I am." He admitted.

Neither of them spoke after that, instead just clinging to each other, both praying for Betty's recovery. 

* * *

Watching Jughead as he waited for any news about Betty made Sweet Pea feel like he was looking at a drowning man who was barely clinging to life. He had watched their relationship from the fringes for so long that it was hard to think of them separately. They were a set, Betty and Jughead, that's just how it was. It left Sweet Pea wondering what would happen if one part of the set ceased to exist, what would happen to the other part of the set then? He was almost certain that if Betty didn't pull through that Jughead would spiral and nothing any of them could do would help. 

He'd never seen the other boy look so lost. He'd always been strong in his beliefs and he'd made the Serpents better by sheer force of will even when many, including Sweet Pea himself, had opposed him, but now he couldn't see even a little bit of that person. It was like losing Betty had taken some fundamental part of him and crumbled it to dust leaving behind a shell of the person he was. He could see the toll that not knowing was having on Jughead.

Sweet Pea hadn't liked Betty at first, had admittedly projected her mother's choices on to her and been an ass about it, but now she had become someone he considered a friend. He had found himself looking to her in a crisis, she was a leader and not just because Jughead had given her the title of queen, she actually cared about the Serpents and worked to make sure that they were taken care of them. She was fundamentally good and it seemed unfair to him that she'd end up here because of some asshole who'd gotten drunk and drove his car into hers.

He'd heard people say that only the good died young and he'd never really put much stock in it but here they were and he found himself praying for the first time in a long while. He prayed that Betty defied that saying, that she'd come back to them all, he prayed hard just in case there_ was_ someone listening.

* * *

After what seemed like forever, Alice and FP rejoined them in the waiting room, sitting down next to Jughead. It had been hours since he'd first arrived and he could tell that it was weighing heavily on everyone and not just him. He glanced at the clock once again and glared at the moving hands for a second before a nurse cleared her throat and brought him to his feet immediately. Alice stood next to him as they stared at the nurse.

"You're the family of Elizabeth Cooper?" She asked.

"Yes. She's my daughter." Alice said next to him and the nurse nodded.

"She's still in surgery. The doctor sent me to update you." She said.

"It's been six hours." Jughead protested. "Can't you tell us anything?"

"Look, from what I understand form the paramedics who were at the scene, she was on the side of the car that took the initial impact it's a lot of pressure to put on a body. Her injuries were extensive and the doctors are working very hard to repair the issues." She said, glancing between them. "It was very touch and go at first but she's stable and holding steady for now. It'll likely be a few more hours before they're finished. I'll keep you updated every few hours."

"So she's okay?" Alice asked. "She's alive?"

"Yes." The nurse said. "She is alive."

She stepped away and started making her way back the way she had come. Jughead blew out a breath and pulled his beanie off to run a hand through his hair. She was alive, at least for now.

"I cant...I've got to..." He shook his head and didn't bother finishing his sentence as he left the waiting room and it's ticking clock behind to make his way up the stairs to the ICU where he knew he'd find Archie. 

He had to take a break from the waiting room. He knew that everyone was there for Betty but having them crowded around and looking at him had him feeling claustrophobic and he just needed a break from it all. Now that he knew that she was at least alive and stable and he had assurance from the nurse that she'd keep them updated every few hours he felt okay leaving the waiting room for a few minutes, no longer afraid that he'd miss an update, so he was going to check up on Archie.

After stopping at the desk and asking for Veronica's room number it was a quick trip down the hall. He pushed the door open cautiously, not knowing what to expect when he stepped into the room but he found Archie with his hand wrapped in Veronica's. She had a tube in her mouth that he knew was there to protect her airway and she had wires attached to her chest as the monitor next to the bed beeped out a steady rhythm. Archie looked up at him with a tear soaked face.

"You doing okay Arch?" He asked softly and his friend sucked in a breath.

"Yeah, just memories you know?" He stated as he glanced at Veronica. 

"Your dad?" Jughead asked gently.

"Yeah." Archie nodded jerkily. "I don't want to lose her."

"You won't." Jughead said firmly. "No one is dying today."

"Have you heard anything about Betty?" Archie asked quietly. Jughead nodded.

"I came up here to tell you." He answered. "She's still in surgery. They say her injuries are extensive but she's holding steady. She's alive."

"Thank God." Archie breathed out. 

"It's still going to be a few more hours before she's done in the operating room but...." Jughead shrugged, dragging a chair over to sit next to him.

"It's better than not knowing anything." Archie said.

"Yeah." Jughead agreed softly.

He and Archie lapsed into silence after that, both too emotionally exhausted to have an extended conversation, preferring to sit in silence. Veronica looked small in the hospital bed, almost like a child, making Jughead feel strangely protective of the girl. They hadn't ever been the closest in their friend group but over the years they'd come to respect one another and seeing the normally strong girl laying in a hospital bed was harder than he expected.

He stayed with Archie and Veronica for about an hour before he made his way back downstairs to the waiting room where everyone was still scattered around. Jellybean was leaned on their fathers shoulder, her closed eyes and even breathing letting him know that she was asleep, so he took the seat next to her quietly so he didn't disturb her. It had been a long day and it wasn't even over yet. He hoped that they'd be done with the surgery soon because he needed to see Betty, to make sure for himself that she was okay.

* * *

Betty once again found herself floating above an operating table but everyone around her seemed much more calm this time around, talking quietly to one another as they worked, so she knew that everything must be going well. Now that she was focusing on the people around her and not her own body on the table she saw Dr. Patel working on her and she also saw Mrs. Matthews whose children she used to babysit.

It was strange to see herself from this angle. She looked pale but her heart was no longer exposed to the open air so that had to be a good sign. She wasn't sure what the doctors were doing but they were all crowded around her leg and she saw metal instruments on the table next to them. There was bloody gauze in a bowl but she didn't see to be bleeding to much anymore, at least that she could see, so she didn't pay it to much attention. She knew that when she woke up she'd likely not remember any of this but she still took her time observing the small details of the room.

She hoped that Veronica and Jellybean were okay wherever they were. It was obvious to here that she'd been hurt pretty badly so she knew that they were probably hurt as well. She wished she could ask someone but she knew she couldn't, that they wouldn't hear her even if she tried. She knew that she'd just have to wait until she woke up. She knew it probably wasn't good to be disconnected from her body for very long so she forced herself to float back down until everything went hazy around the edges and slowly faded to black. 

* * *

Jughead was pacing the floor of the waiting room. The nurse had come back twice to tell update them but it hadn't been very helpful just, _she's still in surgery, she's stable,_ before she was off again rounding them out to a solid ten hours since he'd gotten the call from his father. Archie had rejoined them briefly, hoping for an update about Betty and bringing them an update about Veronica, who was now awake. The bleeding on her brain had slowed and stopped just as the doctors had suspected it to. She was still groggy because of the head injury coupled with the pain medication she was being given but she'd asked about Jellybean and Betty first thing, forcing Archie downstairs for an update, but that had been an hour ago and Jughead was close to breaking point when he saw Dr. Patel coming down the hallway. 

They all stood almost in unison, desperate for information, as he came to a stop in front of them. He had a file in his hand as he glanced around at all of them before he cleared his throat.

"She's out of surgery." He said and Jughead finally felt the tension in his shoulders relax a little. "She had extensive injuries to her left side and she has a long road to recovery but I feel comfortable saying that we've gotten through the worst of it."

"Tell me everything." Alice said next to him. "I want to know exactly what happened in that operating room and why it took so long."

"Mrs. Cooper, if you'd come with me I'll tell you what you want to know. I wouldn't want to divulge information to non-family members." He said and Jughead gritted his teeth.

"There is no one here who isn't family Dr. Patel, now tell me what happened with my daughter." Alice snapped. Dr. Patel glanced at all of them for a long moment before sighing when he took in the expression on Alice's face.

"Very well." He said before he began explaining. "Miss Cooper came in with extensive injuries to her left side as I said. The impact caused fractures on her rib cage and the movements it took to get her out of the car and to the hospital caused a fragment of bone to break off and puncture her lung. We had to open her up and remove the fragment to place a surgical patch over the hole so that she could breath without her lung collapsing."

"Jesus." His father breathed out. Alice slipped her hand into his and squeezed hard. He returned to pressure, trying to take the small bit of comfort he knew she was trying to offer him. Dr. Patel cleared his throat again and continued speaking.

"She also had a piece of metal from the car lodged into her heart so we had to do open heart surgery to remove the metal and patch up her heart, because of this injury we had to give her a blood transfusion because she lost a lot of her own. Each of those surgeries took time on their own but we had to bring in a orthopedic surgeon from another hospital to help with her leg." He stated.

"What about her leg?" Alice asked.

"Her left leg was crushed in the accident. The bones were broken too badly for just a support to be placed so the surgeon we called in used metal hardware to rebuild the leg, which is why her recovery will take some time as she'll need extensive physical therapy, it's also why the surgery took so long. Rebuilding an entire leg and replacing the bones with metal takes a long time but she's done now and being moved up to a room in the ICU." He said.

"I need to see her." Jughead said, the only thought in his head being Betty and the need to get to her as soon as possible.

"There's one more thing that you should know." Dr. Patel said, bringing their attention back to him.

"What?" Jughead practically growled out.

"When she was brought in we did labs, it's standard for anyone we know is going to need surgery. It let's us know if something is wrong that we can't see or if their on some medication or drug that could interact with something we may give them." He explained. "But we found something on Miss Cooper's blood work."

"What?" Alice asked. 

"She's pregnant." He said and Jughead could feel all the eyes in the room turning to him.

"What?" The question sounded almost strangled out of him as he stared at the doctor. Surely they'd read the blood work wrong.

"She's pregnant." He repeated. "Sometimes a trauma like this one can cause a miscarriage but we've checked and the baby seems to be holding strong."

"Oh my God." Jughead said quietly, almost feeling like he could pass out. His father reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him lightly.

"Come on boy, don't pass put on us now." He said. "Betty's upstairs waiting for you. Get it together."

He shook himself and nodded, his mind racing once again, as he spun to the doctor who began to lead them up to the ICU again. Jughead could have found it himself having just been there a few hours ago but he followed behind the doctor anyway. Sweet Pea clapped him on the shoulder on his way out saying that they'd be by later to see Betty, he knew the other Serpents would likely eave now that they knew that she was at least okay. 

The trip up the elevator had Jughead shifting from foot to foot impatiently as the floors ticked by slowly until finally it opened into the bright sterile hallway of the ICU. The doctor led them down the hall and as he stopped in front of a room Jughead idly noticed that they'd put her in the room directly across from Veronica's before the door opened and all other thoughts left his head.

He stepped in quickly stopping at the foot of the bed as he looked down at Betty. She had a tube in her mouth similar to the one Veronica had had before she woke up and her hair was fanned out on the pillow under her head. She was pale and fragile looking, the bruises on the side of her face emphasizing that, with an IV coming from her arm leading up to a bag of medicine hanging from the pole to the side of the bed. Her left leg was left out from under the blanket and it was wrapped in a metal contraption with metal roads protruding from it and into the skin of her leg. It looked painful but the doctor assured them that it wasn't. He told them that it would be kept on until the leg began to heal a little and then they could remove it to allow it to heal fully.

Jellybean sat in the chair next to the window with her legs tucked under her and Alice and his dad were hovering on the edge of the bed as if they were waiting for him to move before they did anything. He finally left the foot of the bed and pulled a chair over to sit beside her and he took her hand gently in his careful of the bruises he could see on her skin. He brought her hand up to his lips to press a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"I'm here Betty, I'm right here." He said softly and suddenly it was like the stress of the last few hours finally hit him and the tears came unbidden to his eyes. He leaned his head against the bed, clinging to her hand, as he cried so relieved that she was alive that he couldn't stop them falling. He felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently, and he knew form the size and shape that it was his father. 

The room was quiet, the silence only broken up by the occasional sniffle not always coming from Jughead, they were all feeling the relief of knowing that she was okay. The quiet and the relief made Jughead's shoulders drop, the tension finally leaving him fully, as he laid his head on the bed next to her hip so he could look up at her face and assure himself that this was real that she was safe, and before he knew it his eyes slipped closed.

* * *

Sitting in the ICU room with Veronica as they waited for news about Betty felt a little like hell. They were both worried about the time it was taking in surgery and Archie couldn't even imagine what it was like for Jughead. He felt a little bad that he wasn't there for his friend but he knew that Jughead understood his need to be with Veronica right now. Just as he was contemplating going back down to the waiting room for an update Jellybean slipped into the room drawing their attention to her. She had been in the backseat of the car and had miraculously walked away with only a few minor scrapes and bruises.

"Jellybean." Archie greeted as he studied the girl. "Is everything alright?"

"Betty's out of surgery." She said quietly. "The doctors put her in the room across the hall if you want to see her. Jug's with her now, and Dad and Alice."

"Is she okay?" Veronica said from the bed and Jellybean shrugged.

"I think so." She said. "The doctor says she'll need a lot of physical therapy but they say she's doing well after the surgery."

"I want to see her." Veronica said and Archie had to push her gently back down into the bed.

"V, they haven't told you that you can get up." He reminded her.

"It's a broken arm Archie. I'm fine, I can see my best friend." She snapped.

"It's a broken arm and a pretty serious head injury." Archie corrected her. "I wouldn't advise that you get up right now. You could hurt yourself even more, call for a nurse and ask if you can go." 

"Fine." She growled out and hit the nurses button on the remote next to her bed. The nurse appeared in the doorway almost immediately and Jellybean stepped to the side to let her come in and she came over to stand next top the bed.

"Is something wrong Miss Lodge? Are you in pain?" She asked and Veronica shook her head.

"No." Veronica answered glancing at the door. "My best friend is next door, she's been in surgery for hours and she's finally out. I want to check on her so I was wondering if I could go over there."

"Miss Lodge, you can't be on your feet long enough to go over there and check on her yet. I'm sorry." The nurse said. 

"What about a wheelchair?" Veronica asked desperately. "I wouldn't be on my feet then. I feel fine, it's just a little headache. I need to see her." 

"It does help to get a patient moving sooner rather than later." The nurse sighed as she bit her lip before finally she seemed to give in. "Fine. I'll be right back with the wheel chair but you have to promise me that you won't get out of it."

"I promise." She said. "Thank you."

The nurse left the room and Veronica turned to raise an eyebrow at him. He knew she was saying _told you so_ without her having to say the words out loud so he rolled his eyes at her. When the nurse came back with a wheelchair she helped Veronica slid to the edge of the bed and stand to move to the chair. She was only on her feet for a few seconds but Archie could tall that she was a little unstable as she swayed slightly but the doctor had told them that it was normal, that she'd regain her balance as she healed, so he didn't worry about it.

The nurse pushed Veronica across the hall following Jellybean into the room directly across from hers and parked her next to the bed. Jughead was sitting in a chair with his head laid on the edge of the bed and Archie could tell from his posture and breathing that he was asleep. Veronica must have noticed too because she was careful not to nudge him as she reached over to touch Betty's leg lightly as if assuring herself that she was actually there. Her other leg was in some contraption he didn't even want to fathom and he knew immediately why the doctor had told them that she'd need physical therapy.

He moved to the other side of Jughead across from Veronica so he could look at Betty. Her chest rose and fell evenly making Archie blow out a breath of relief as he touched her arm lightly. Betty had been a part of his life for as long as he could remember and it hit him only then as he was looking down at her that he could have lost her forever. He couldn't fathom a life without her, she was his best friend and always had been, if he had lost here there would have been a hole in his life that nothing and no one would have been able to fill.

Veronica reached for his hand and he gave it to her, keeping his other hand on Betty just as Veronica did, their joined hands resting lightly on Jughead's back completing the circuit connecting the four of them. It was unseen to the world at large, the small little strings connecting each of them to the other, made up of all the laughs and jokes and darker experiences that they'd endured together, tying them together forever. Veronica and Archie kept a hold on each other as they encircled their sleeping friends pouring their heart and emotions into them through their solid contact. This was just one more thing that they'd survived together and they'd just keep on surviving.

* * *

Jughead woke with a start. The room was dark, making it obvious that night had fallen outside, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. His father and Alice were standing by the window looking out of it into the night and Jellybean was curled up on the reclining chair in the corner. Jughead glanced around trying to figure out what had woken him when he noticed the doctor at the edge of the bed. He smiled at Jughead as he checked over the IV medications and the monitor.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"We've been monitoring Miss Cooper and she's doing well all things considered. She's breathing on her own, sooner than we expected truthfully, so I've decided to adjust her medication to slowly wean her off the anesthetic so she can wake up." He explained. "I'm also going to remove the tube from her throat because she doesn't need it anymore."

Jughead nodded as he took her hand once more, it having slipped out of his in his sleep, as he watched. Dr. Patel messed with the IV for a few seconds longer before mvoing on to the tube. He did a few things to the end that Jughead couldn't really follow before he simply pulled it gently out of the mouth. He laid it on a tray sitting on the table next to him before going back to checking the machines. He nodded, seemingly satisfied with his work, before he turned to address all of them.

"She should wake in the next couple of hours." He said before he took the tray and exited the room swiftly. Alice stepped over next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Archie and Veronica came to see her earlier but they didn't want to wake you." She said quietly, trying not to wake Jellybean.

"How's Veronica doing?" He asked, glancing at her.

"She's fine." She assured him. They're going to keep her a few days for observation to make sure that the bleeding on her brain doesn't start up again but other than that she's doing okay."

"This day started so normal." He said, his eyes going back to Betty's face. "I thought I'd just meet with the Serpents and then I'd come back home to her but now we're here."

"I know." Alice said. "All it takes is a second for your entire life to change. Seems like you should get some kind of warning but that's just not how it works."

"Are you angry?" He asked, glancing at her. "I mean, about the pregnancy of course. I didn't know and if she did she hasn't said anything."

"No." She said softly. "Maybe I would have been, under other circumstances, but now I'm just thankful that she's okay. We can deal with everything else."

"Yeah." He agreed softly. "We can deal with everything else."

Jughead stood from the chair to stretch, his muscles sore from the position he'd been laying in, before he ran a hand over his face. His beanie was still tucked into his back pocket rather than on his head and he left it there. His father cleared his throat and came over to stand next to them.

"I was thinking that Alice and I could go pick up some food. None of us have eaten since breakfast." He said, making them look at him. Alice took a deep breath and nodded.

"That's a good idea." She said before glancing at him. "You'll be okay here until we get back?"

"I'll be fine." He said with a slight smile. "I'm not a little kid Mrs. Cooper."

"No, i guess you aren't." She agreed smiling back at him.

"We'll just leave JB here with you. I don't want to wake her." His father said and Jughead nodded. As they turned toward the door a thought came to him.

"Could you pick up something for Archie too?" He asked. "He's probably not eaten either."

"Of course Jughead." Alice said before the continued out of the room. 

Instead of taking his seat again he walked over to the window and looked out of it into the parking lot below. It was early in February so it was cold outside, especially at night, but he could still see a couple of people huddled around under a street lamp their cigarettes lighting up as the puffed on them. He wondered why they were here. Did they have loved ones on this floor too or were they here for a more joyous occasion like the birth of a child? Whatever it was that they were here for their addiction to nicotine had driven them outside into the cold of the dead of night.

The moon had risen high in the sky illuminating the world below it and the stars scattered across the sky around it. He wasn't sure what time it was but it felt eerie, almost like the air was charged with something, and it made him shiver lightly. As a kid he'd always been fascinated by the moon nut now, though it was still as beautiful and mysterious as it always had been, something about it that night gave him a weird vibe. He knew it was likely only his imagination, a product of his over taxed mind, but he still turned away from it and made his way back to his chair.

The doctor had said that Betty would wake up in the next couple of hours so he was going to keep an eye on her until she did. The bruises on her skin had darkened over the hours and now stood out starkly against her pale skin. He knew that it would likely take weeks for some of the darkest ones to heal but they would heal eventually. The scars that would be left behind on her chest and abdomen after she healed though, they'd be a constant vivid reminder of what he'd almost lost. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, after all Betty had told him herself that she thought the scars they both carried from their experiences just showed the world what they'd survive, but he wished they both had a few less scars to show.

"Hey Betts, I don't know if you can hear me but I want to let you know that I'm still here." He spoke softly, running his thumb over the back of her hand. "I know that you're probably wondering about them so I'll tell you, Veronica and Jellybean are okay. Your mom and my dad have just gone out for some food, maybe you know that already. Sweet Pea and the other Serpents were here earlier, they're all glad that you're okay. Fangs and Pea told me what you've been doing for them." He gave a small laugh. "God, you're a better leader than I am. Fangs says you're not better, just different, but I know the truth. You've always been better at these things. You'll probably be a better parent too but I don't mind." He trailed off for a moment. "I don't know if you knew about the baby or not but just in case you didn't, we're having a baby. I think if they're even a little bit like you they'll be the most amazing kid ever."

He stopped as he looked at her and he stood to place a kiss on her forehead before leaning their heads together, breathing her in for a moment, before he pulled back and cupped her face with his hand.

"I can't do this without you Betty." He whispered. "You're my entire life, you and the baby, so I need you to come back to me. I fought so hard to get back to you when our roles were reversed and now I need you to do the same, okay? Just come back to me."

He knew that she likely couldn't hear him and even if she could, she still wouldn't wake for some time with the medicine keeping her under but it made him feel better to talk to her. He sat next to her for only a few minutes more before Alice and his father reentered the room with Veronica and Archie in tow and a bag from Pop's clutched in each of their hands. His father handed him a burger and fries along with a shake, the smell making Jughead finally realize how hungry he actually was.

The food was passed around as Alice shook Jellybean awake gently and Archie wheeled Veronica over to the edge of Betty's bed where she took his place with her hand in Betty's. She wasn't allowed to eat anything from outside of the hospital yet so she had already been brought her dinner from the cafeteria. Everyone sat in a circle as they ate the burgers and fries.

"How's she doing?" Archie asked. "I noticed that she doesn't have the tube anymore."

"Doc says she should wake up in a few hours." Jughead said, mouth full of fries.

"Good." Archie said quietly, glancing at her. "I was worried about her."

"Believe me, I understand that." He said. Archie shrugged.

"She's always been there, as far back as I can remember, she's there in every memory." He said. "I can't imagine her not being there for all the other big moments in my life. I was terrified that I'd never get to see her again. I can't even imagine how much worse it was for you, you've known her your entire life too and your relationship with her is so much deeper."

"Honestly, it was like being in hell." He said. "The thought of never seeing her again, of her not being there, was almost enough to send me over the edge."

"She's okay now, so everyone can just calm down." Alice said, glancing between them. "Let's not think about the what ifs, focus on the reality. She's going to wake up and she's going to be fine."

"You're right." Archie said. "Focus on the positive. That's what Betty does."

They all spent the next hour making small talk, keeping away from the topic of death and dying, until a nurse came in and ushered Veronica back to her own room taking Archie along with them. Alice and his father went back to looking out the window and speaking to each other in quiet voices while Jellybean pulled a chair up next to him and looked at Betty as if she was making sure that she was still breathing.

Jellybean looked like a mess, her hair and clothes were askew from her nap on the chair and the bandage on her forehead was crooked, but she seemed more alert than any of them. He'd obviously had a nap but it hadn't really been a restful one and he was exhausted, he knew that Alice and his father hadn't even had the opportunity to sleep, so Jellybean was the most rested out of all of them and now seemed determined to stare at Betty until she woke up. He shook his head but didn't comment as he focused in on Betty as well.

The next hour passed quietly, the hospital near silent around them due to the late hour, which is why Jughead nearly jumped out of his skin when Betty's hand twitched against his. His heart was racing as he stared at her hand in his before his eyes flew to her face.

"Betty?" He asked quietly, drawing the attention of the others in the room. "Can you hear me?" 

Her hand twitched again and she made a soft sound prompting Alice to rush to her other side and take her other hand in hers.

"Betty, can you open your eyes?" He asked softly, brushing his free hand over the side of her face gently. "Can you do that for me?"

She made another soft sound as her eyes fluttered before finally they opened. He saw his father duck out of the room, likely going to get a doctor, but he forced himself to focus on Betty. Her eyes rolled around the room for a moment as if she couldn't figure out what to focus on before her eyes landed on him and stayed.

"Jug." She said, her voice rough with disuse.

"I'm right here." He said, squeezing her hand. "Everything's okay."

* * *

Betty was stared at Jughead for a moment before her eyes moved to the room again. It was obvious that she was in a hospital and the aches in her body let her know that she'd been hurt quiet badly. She didn't get a chance to ask anything before a doctor stepped into the room and began examining her. He made her follow his finger before shining a light in her eyes that made them burn because it was so bright before he moved onto the questions.

"Do you know where you are?" He asked.

"The hospital." She said before clearing her throat. It was dry and it hurt.

"We'll get you some water in a minute." He said. "Now, do you know who you are?"

"What kind of question is that?" She asked. "Of course I do."

"Can you tell me your name?" He reiterated and she could see the slight smirk on Jughead's face.

"Betty Cooper." She answered.

"Very good." He said. "Do you remember what happened?"

She stared at him for a long moment as she tried to remember how she'd ended up here before her eyes widened. "There was an accident. Veronica and Jellybean, are they okay?"

"They're fine Miss Cooper." He said seconds before Jellybean stepped up next to the bed. Betty's eyes roamed over her looking for injuries and her eyes settled on the bandage on her forehead.

"Are you okay, JB?" She asked. Jellybean surprised her by bursting into tears which made Betty's eyes widen even more.

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed. "It's all my fault."

"Oh no JB, come here." She said, motioning for the girl to come forward. She pulled her into her arms even as she heard her mother's voice exclaiming _Gentle!_ She hugged JB as tightly as she could as she ran her hand over her hair. "This isn't your fault, not even a little bit." She pushed her back slightly to cup her face in her hands. "Look, I'm okay, I'm fine alright? So dry those tears, there's no need for them." She ran her thumbs under JB's eyes to wipe the tears away before she kissed her softly on the forehead. 

The doctor cleared his throat. "Miss Cooper, I need to check your sutures."

"Okay." She said. Jughead held out a cup of water for her with a straw, obviously having obtained it while she was talking to JB.

"If you're okay, we should take JB home for the night." He mother said hesitantly.

"It's okay mom. Go, I'll be fine." She said.

"I'll stay with her." Jughead said next to her and her mother nodded before she glanced at her again.

"Veronica and Archie are across the hall." She said. "Veronica's okay."

"Thanks mom." She said as she exchanged hugs with each of them and watched them leave the room.

"Do you want him to step out while I check everything?" The doctor asked, glancing at Jughead and she shook her head.

"It's fine, it's not like he hasn't seen it all before." She said.

"Right." He said, clearing his throat uncomfortably before proceeding to pull the blanket down her body. He popped the buttons on the edge of the gown and turned it down over her chest before he began prodding the sutures there gently.

"Jesus, what the hell happened?" She asked as she saw them.

The doctor began explaining what had happened during her surgery, Jughead's face letting her know that he'd already heard the information, and she shook her head as she stared at the sutures. Her chest had been closed with a mixture of staples and regular sutures and she could already tell by the look of it that it was going to leave a nasty scar. After he seemed satisfied with his examination of her chest he pulled the gown back up and moved to the bottom of the gown. He pulled it up while also using the blanket to cover the parts of her that he exposed until he made it to her side.

There was a long line of stitches down her abdomen making her stare once again as the doctor explained more of the surgery. Jughead held her hand tightly as he stared at the sutures leaving her to wonder if this was his first time seeing them like it was hers, it seemed likely by his expression. Finally the doctor moved onto her leg, which she could now see why it felt so heavy, and proceeded to check it as well. She listened as he explained what they'd done and about the physical therapy that she'd need before finally he seemed to finish his exam.

He left them once again after speaking to her for a little while longer about her treatment and explaining a little more about the operation. Betty blew out a breath as she glanced out the window until Jughead sat on the bed next to her and laid his hand on her uninjured leg.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Only a little achey, which after seeing the sutures I can only assume is because of the drugs, but I'm okay." She said.

"Really?" He asked seriously. She placed her hand over his.

"Really Jug. I'm okay." She said before she smiled slightly. "I should be asking you that question. You look like hell."

"Don't joke." He said quietly as he touched her face. "God Betty, I thought I lost you."

"Hey, I'm fine." She said, moving her hand over his on her face. "I'm a little banged up but I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere."

"I can't live in a world without you Betty Cooper. I wouldn't survive." He said before he kissed her softly. As he pulled away she wrapped her arms around him to keep him close to her and he returned the hug. He buried his face in her neck and she could feel the tears slid down his face and onto her skin so she ran her hands through his hair just like she had done for Jellybean as she held him tightly.

"It's okay." She said softly. "I'm okay."

They stayed in that position for a long time, just holding each other tightly as they breathed each other in, until finally Jughead pulled back. She kissed him again, his tears making his lips taste salty, before she gave him a soft smile.

"By the way, we're having a baby." He said and she stared at him.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"You're pregnant." He said. "It showed up in the blood work."

"Oh." She said softly, touching her stomach lightly. "Wow."

"Yeah." He agreed as he placed his hand over hers. 

* * *

The next few days were a flurry of activity in her room. If it wasn't doctors and nurses fluttering in and out, it was the Serpents checking on her or Archie and Veronica or her family. Once Veronica was discharged, she and Archie practically set up camp in her room along with Jughead when they weren't attending school. She had urged Jughead to go back to school, insisting that she would be fine, but he wouldn't leave her side so they'd both dropped out and, upon her mothers insistence, signed up for online classes to finish high school. Luckily both of their credits transferred to the online school so they didn't have to repeat the whole of senior year and could just pick up on the part of the subject they'd left off in at Riverdale.

Betty had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks until they were able to remove the stabilizer from her leg and then she was free to go home. She had to use a wheelchair as she was unable to use crutches until her sutures heeled completely and she wasn't at risk of breaking them open again so Jughead had to carry her up and down the stairs of the house, which he did without complaint. A week after she was sent home she began her physical therapy. It was frustrating for her when she couldn't do things that she was normally able to which lead to bad moods and snippy conversations.

Jughead sometimes got frustrated with her attitude and left her in their room, both of them knowing she couldn't get very far on her own, but he always came back and apologized for leaving her. Sometimes she got so frustrated in her sessions that she'd just cry and refuse to do anymore, forcing the session to be cut short, but eventually she began making strides. During all of this, she and Veronica had been told that the man who'd hit them when he was drunk had been charged with a DUI and reckless endangerment and had also been told by the judge that he'd have to pay reparations to both of them for the injuries they'd sustained.

A year after she began physical therapy, Betty was almost back to normal. Her leg didn't move like it used to but she'd grown accustomed to that and while she still had a slight limp, which the therapist said was likely permanent at this point, it was minute enough that you wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it. The injury also meant that Betty couldn't hold Isabelle on her left side without it causing pain but she'd grown used to that as well. She and Jughead were still living in the Cooper/Jones house along with her mother, FP and Jellybean as they couldn't afford to move out on their own just yet. They had both decided to attend online colleges instead of a physical campus because it made much more sense with their schedules to do it that way.

Archie and Veronica had also stayed in Riverdale, despite Veronica's plans of leaving before the accident, both also taking classes online while also running Pop's and the community center respectfully. They'd moved out of the Pembrooke and into a modest apartment together two weeks after graduation. Veronica had told her that the accident had changed her mind about leaving Riverdale, stating that there was to much history here to leave, but Betty knew that it was really because they wanted to be around for her. She didn't call either of them on it though, happy to have her friends around, especially when they acted as babysitters so she and Jughead could have a date night. 

At first after the accident, Jughead wouldn't touch her and she had been afraid that it was because of the cars, that he no longer found her attractive, but when she'd confronted him about it he'd broken down and told her that he was terrified that he would hurt her. She'd whipped her shirt off and forced him to look at the scars, to see that they were healed, that she was fine, and finally it seemed to get through to him. The first time they were intimate together, he'd placed kisses along her scars and he'd been super gentle, making sure that she was okay the whole time. After they got over that hurdle, things went back to normal with them, Jughead having realized that she wasn't going to break.

It was two years later, a month after her twentieth birthday, that they got married. Isabelle marched down the aisle as a flower girl, throwing the petals haphazardly around the aisle as she went before Betty's mother had scooped her up in her arms and placed the basket down on the floor by her feet. Betty asked FP to walk her down the aisle in place of her father and she'd been slightly horrified when she saw the tears on his face before he'd dragged her into his arms. Jellybean and Veronica acted as her bridesmaids along with Cheryl while Jughead had enlisted Archie, Sweet Pea and, somewhat unconventionally, Toni. She'd donned a suit just like the boys and taken her place at their side without complaint.

When they said their vows, they'd both cried so heavily she was sure that people weren't even sure what they'd said but they clapped anyway when they kissed each other under the arch of flowers. 

Some days her leg would ache so much she couldn't even leave the bed and other days it was almost like nothing had happened at all but neither of them ever forgot about the accident. When Isabelle got a little older and asked them what had happened and why mommy had those scars, they told her the truth, while also telling her that the day hadn't been all bad because they'd found out about her. The accident had changed the course of their lives. Her, Jughead, Archie, Veronica, they'd all made choices after the accident that they wouldn't have made before, like staying in Riverdale and doing college online, but looking back none of them regretted the choices they made.

One time, years later as they sat by a fire together on the annual camping trip with their children running around them, Veronica commented that looking back the accident almost felt like fate, leading them into the lives they were meant to live. Betty supposed she was right, if the accident hadn't happened their lives could've looked very different. Maybe they wouldn't be here together, maybe they wouldn't even have the children crowded around them, maybe they wouldn't have been in Riverdale at all. One instance, one accident, and their entire lives changed. None of them could have seen it coming but Betty was happy with where they had ended up.


End file.
